Plastic bag machine



June 16, 1964 J. BONURA PLASTIC BAG MACHINE Filed Nok 29, 1961 3Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Jaw/v BONURA FIG.

June 16, 1964 J. BONURA 3,137,455

PLASTIC BAG MACHINE Filed NOV. 29, 1961 3 Sheets$heet 2 INVENTOR. dal/NBavuRn June 16, 1964 J. BONURA 3,137,455

PLASTIC BAG MACHINE Filed Nov. 29, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Jo/0vB R United States Patent 3,137,455 PLASTIC BAG MACHINE I John Bonura,616 Schenck Ave., Brooklyn, NY. Filed Nov. 29, 1961, Ser. No. 155,605

6 Claims. (Cl. 242-56) My invention is directed toward a machine whichproduces in rapid succession a plurality of tubes, each of which carriesin the form of a roll a pluralityof plastic bags in collapsed sheet formand joined end to end.

It is an object of my invention to provide a new and improved machine ofthe character indicated.

Another object is to provide a machine of the character indicatedwherein the plurality of bags rolled on each tube is accurately andautomatically set to a desired value.

Still another object is to provide a machine of the character indicatedwhich includes a novel mechanism for wrapping a plurality of plasticbags in collapsed sheet form about a hollow tube.

Yet another object is to provide a machine of the character indicatedwherein a predetermined number of plastic bags in collapsed sheet formare unrolled from a supply roll carrying these bags in the form of arolled sheet and are thereafter rolled into a tube, the sheet beingsevered automatically at the proper time and at the proper position.

These and other objects of my invention will either be explained or willbecome apparent hereinafter.

An illustrative embodiment of my invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a bag machine in accordance with myinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a partially cut-away side elevation of the machine of FIGURE1.

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 33 in'FIGURE l.

FIGURES 4 and 5 illustrate schematically the bag tearing action requiredin the machine of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a partial sectional view of the tube 'wrapping mechanism ofthe machine of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 77 in FIGURE 6.

FIGURES Sand 9 are respectively plan and elevation.

views of a mechanism for cutting the material employed in the machine ofFIGURE 1 after a sufficient length of material has been wrapped on atube as fedinto the machine of FIGURE 1. The mechanism of FIGURES 8 and9 can be employed together with the tensioning movementof rolls 14a and14b to sever the material' at an appropriate location, or may be usedindependentlyof the tensioning rolls 14a and 14b to sever the material.

Referring now to the drawings, a supply roll 10 carries a long length ofplastic bag material 11. This material consists of aplurality of equallengths (units) of double sheets joined end to end. The double sheetsare sealed together at the joints 18 and are also perforated for easytearing along a line 19 which extends through each joint 18 in adirection parallel to the axis of roll 10. Guide roll 12 feeds material11 downward from roll 10 down the center of the machine frame 13a and13b, between v 3,137,455 Patented June 16, 1964 released from themachine and dropped into container 17.

Rolls 14a and 14b are geared together at 24 and rotate 'to gears 31 and32 (to rotate the rolls 14a-14b and 15a 15b respectively).

At the instant the machine is started, electrical energy is fed throughwires 22, metal rings '20a-and 20b (which are in contact and thecommutating rings 21a and 21b (which are in respective connection withrings 20a and 20b) to solenoid 23 andenergizes same. Plunger 40 ofsolenoid 23 then protrudes and will stop the rotation of friction disc36 by arresting arm 37 attached to disc 36 when element 39 touches it.In this position-element 39 is in position 41. I p

When material 11 is introduced downward between rolls 15a and 15b, theelectrical circuit is broken and solenoid 23 is deenergized. Plunger 40is withdrawn, and the rotary motion of rolls 1 5a and 15b is transmittedthrough gears 33 and 34 to shaft 35. (The gearing is such that shaft 35makes just under one revolutionin the period in which the predeterminednumber of bags, for example 25 bags, is passed through the machine.)Shaft 35 then rotates and rotates arm 37. After the 25th bag has passedand therefore shaft 35 has almost completed one revolution, cam 38 liftscam-follower 42 causing clutch 43 to move into driver engagementwith-member 44. Since member 44 is continuously driven through bevelgears 45 by drive 30, assembly 46a and sprocket 47 rotate.

By means of chain 48 connected between sprockets 41 thus producing atearing force at the joint 18 at which the 25th unit or bag is joined tothe remaining material tearing rolls 14a and 1411, then betweenstationary rolls 11 fed from supply roll1'0. (See FIGS. 4 and 5.)

At thesame time either in conjunction with the tensioning movement ofrolls 14a and 14b, or independent thereof, as shown in FIGURES 8 and 9,a horizontal line through this joint 18 is cut therethrough by knife'83. Knife 83 is moved horizontally by a belt driven assembly '82 whichis driven by motor 86. Since the position of the cutting line iscritical, motor 86 isenergized by a photoelectric unit '84 when theappropriatejoint 18 passes the desired position. (Alternatively, aregister dot or line can be imprinted on each joint 18, and unit 84 cansense this dot or line). Unit 84 is set tocount the passage of 24 bagsor units before initiating the cutting operation on the 25th bag. It isto be noted that as indicated in FIGURE 9, the motion of knife 83 has adownward component parallel to thedownward movement of the bag ma.-terial. Consequently, for the angle that the belt is relative to theaxis of the bag material, there is a predetermined speed for the belt inrelation to the 'bag material speed, which will cause it to movedownward at the same velocity as the bagfm'aterial, whereupon the onlyrelative motion during the cutting period, will be the transversemovement of the kniferelative to the 'bag material. The photoelectricunit is adapted in a conventional way to be actuated only after apredetermined number of bag units have passed its scanning point. Thiscan be done-either with a counter or other conventional means well knownin the art. Thus, the motor 86 is energized when the predeterminednumber of bags have passed by, and then knife 83 is brought into actionby the sensing of either a registered dot, or the appropriate joint 18passes the desired position. Knife 83 will therefore'contact the bagmaterial along the upper edge of the joint 18, and will stay in thisrelative axial position until it has transversely crossed the bagmaterial to complete its cut. As has been stated hereinabove, thiscutting action can be adjusted to take place simultaneously with thetearing action caused by the tensioning of the bag material under theinfluence of movable rolls 14a and 14b, or the material can besevcred'separately by either the tensioning action of rolls 14a and lab,or the individual cutting action of knife 83.

After the 25th and severed bag passesthrough rolls la and 15b, solenoid23 is again energized to complete the cycle. Arm 37 completes itsrevolution in the time space between the passage of the 25th bag throughrollers 15a and 15b and the arrival of the first bag or unit on material 11 to start the next cycle.

It should be noted at this point that the timing sequence for allsolenoids, except theabove mentioned solenoid 23, is controlled by thecommutator group 55. This group is rotated by arm 55a which is driven byelement 39.

Before the next cycle can begin rolls 14a and ldb must be lowered to theoriginal position. To accomplish this, the upper arms of links Sla and515 must be permitted to drop downward. Sincecams 59a and 5%!) wouldpermit these arms to drop too rapidly for proper machine timing solenoidcatches 5 snapped into recesses 53 in base plates 52 to delay thedescent of rolls 14a and 14b until contacts 249a and 2011 can energizesolenoid 23. The operation of catches 54 is controlled by commutatorgroup 55.

A cylinder feeding mechanism 56 feedshollow tubes 16 to be wrapped tothe tube wrapping mechanism 59a and 59b in proper timing by the actionof tilting table 58 and three arms which are together advanced andwithdrawn by the action of a cycling solenoid 57.

Thetube wrapping mechanism (FIGURES 6 and 7) 59a and 5% at one end hastube support 61 secured to a shaft 66. Shaft 6i) extends to an axialthrust bearing 62. When, under the control of commutator group 55,

solenoid 63 is energized, splined cup 64 slides in splined housing 65pulling support 61 against spring 66. Meanwhile shaft 60 is free to turnand is continuously driven from pulley 67 through spline 68. A tube-16is fed into proper position within the mechanism 59a and 5% by V thecylinder feeding mechanism when solenoid 63 is energized. Solenoid 63 isenergized at a predetermined time by the action of commutator group 55,whereby the tube.

support 61 is axially withdrawn from tube 16 after the bag material hasbeen severed either by the action of the tension rolls 14a and 1412, thecutting knife 83, or both. It should be noted that afterseve ring hastakenplace between rolls l4 and 15 in the axial path of the bagmaterial, the bag materialcontinues its downward path towards tube 16,around which it is wrapped. The wrap and grip action, provided by member85, as will be explained hereiribelow, insures a compact and tightwrapping of material about tube 16 at the appropriate time. Thus, it isseen that tube support s1 is withdrawn at the proper moment aftersevering has taken place to permit the severed end of the material to besecurely wrapped around tube 16 before the wrapped roll of bag materialis permitted to drop into container 17, thereby coordinating with theactuation of cylinder feeding mechanism 56, which will feed anotherhollow to 16 inch alignment with tube support 61, which will then bepositioned to receive the new tube 16 thereon, so that the next batch ofmaterial can be wrapped. Thus, a relationship is seen between the timingof the cutting mechanism or the tearing mechanisms, and the plastic bagwinding'device, which is all co ordinated through commutator group55. Amore de tailed explanation of the commutator group 55 will followhereinbelow.

The cutting means of FIGURES 8 and 9 as has been described hereinabove,are energized at the proper time by means of a photoelectric cell whichmay be activated only 4. after predetermined bag units have passed byits scanning point.

Accordingly, to cause thecutting means to beginits cut at the same timethat the tensioning rolls 14a and 14b exert a tearing tension on theperforation, the solenoid 23 which initiates the upward axial movementof the tensioning rolls, is timed to be energized appropriately.

Housing 71 carries a radial cam 69 and an axial cam 7t). A hollow shaft72 has atone end a spring-loaded cam follower assembly 73. Shaft 72 alsohas a slidable hearing 74. At the other end, shaft '72 has a spline 75which carries freely therearound the armature section 76 of a magneticclutch. The -field section 7 7 of this clutch is energized in propertiming by commutator group through slip rings '78 and contacts '79.Hollow shaft 72 which carries around armature section 76, does notrotateuntil the field section 77 is energized. Accordingly then, duringrotation of shaft when the magnetic clutch field section 77 is notenergized, it is apparent that shaft 72 and armature section 76 do notrotate, and therefore, the wrap grip action of member 85, is notoperative.

When the magnetic clutch field section 77 is energized,

hollow shaft 72 and armature section'i are axially attracted to thefield section 77, and thereby are caused to rotate along with fieldsection 77 and the shaft 60. Inception of the rotation of hollow shaft72, causes rotary motion of the cam follower assembly 73 and the ensuinginteraction wtih cams 7i) and 69, which results in the radio and axialwrap grip action of member 85. It is therefore seen that energization offield section 77 of the magnetic clutch at the appropriate time, bringsinto play the wrap grip action of member 85. The timing is controlled bythe commutator group 55a to be described in greater detail hereinbelow.It is to be noted that field section 77 is mounted on shaft 6%, andsplined thereto by the spline 68, whereby rotary motion of the shaftedcauses rotary motion of field section 77. In contrast,

- hollow' shaft 72 is not splined to shaft 6* but is caused to rotatealong with shaft (if! by the action of the magnetic clutch field section77. The armature section of the magnetic clutch is splined to the hollowshaft and can move axially relative to said hollow shaft 75.

When the field section 77 is energized, spline 75 and the spring loadedcam follower assembly 73 slide axially in the path defined by axial cam70 and spring 66. At

the same time, member 30 follows the path fixed by spring 81 and radialcam 69. The combined action indicated will provide the desired tubewrapping operation wherein material ill is wrapped on tube 16 andwherein the wrapped tube is gripped by member 85.

To provide proper electrical connections, the hot voltage terminal ofthe voltage source required to ener 36 and rotated therewith under thecontrol of arm 55:; as explained above. Each disc carries anelectrically.

conductive segment 1% about its periphery. Each segment is connectedthrough wire and rings (not shown) to grounded shaft 106.

Each mechanism to be controlled by the commutator group 55 is associatedwith each disc and has its ground connection connected to a brush 162contacting the periphery of its disc 19%. As the appropriate brush ismoved into contact with'the appropriate -.con-. ductive segment 104, theappropriate mechanism is grounded and energized. Thus the arc'length ofeach segrnent 164 determines the length of time'of energization sincedisc 36 is rotated at constant speed and the electrical connections arecompleted only during the time the appropriate brush contacts thatportion of the periphery segment.

If desired the solenoids can be replaced by an electro-pneumatic systemor any combination of both.

While I have shown and pointed out and described. my invention asapplied in the embodiment shown, other modifications and variationswillbe apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it ismy intention tobe limited in my protection only by the terms of the claims whichfollow.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent;

l. A plastic bag machine utilizing a supplyroll carryto cause atransverse severance between the last bag in said number and the joinedfirst bag of the next successive group; means for causing the severanceto occur when a predetermined number of bags have been counted; andmeans 'for wrapping the bags on a tube which will hold a predeterminednumber of bags that are included cutting knife mounted on a belt whichmoves transeluding a separating means for displacing the tearing rollsaxially relative to the stationary rolls, whereby the relative movementof the stationary and tearing rolls is coordinated by a further means tocause the said movement to occur at a predetermined timeatthe pointwhere a predtermined number ofbags have passed between the stationaryand tearing rolls. I

4. A plastic bag machine as setforth in claim '3, in-

' eluding means for insuring a tightly gripped wrapping of the bagsabout the tube when the sheet .of bags are being wrapped aboutthe tube.5. A plastic bag machine as in claiml, wherein the means for causing thetransverse severance comprise a pair of axially fixed rolls and a pair"of axially movable rolls for transporting the plastic bags to thetransfer station: means for removing the axially movable rolls away fromthe fixed rolls at an appropriate predetermined time to 'cause tensionin the rolled sheet sufiicient to elfec a transverse severance wheredesired. 1

6 A plastic bag' machine as in claim 1, wherein the means for causingthe transverse severance comprise a versely across the rolled sheet,having an axial compobetween the severed portions of the rolled sheet,whereby each tube will contain a predetermined number of rolled thestationary and tearing rolls are mechanically pinter-' connected anddriven in synchronized fashion to cause an axial movement of the plasticbags towards the transfer station. v

3. A plastic bag machine as set forth in claim 2, in-

nent equal to the axial speed of the rolledshee't, and

means for causing the knife to engage the rolled sheet at apredetermined point, causing the severance to occur after apredetermined number the transfer means. i

' References Cited in the file of this patent "UNITED STATES PATENTS v IBischoff Jan. 2, 1917 3,010,630 Lach et al. Nov." 28,i1 961 of bags havepassed-by

1. A PLASTIC BAG MACHINE UTILIZING A SUPPLY ROLL CARRYING A ROLLED SHEETCONSISTING OF A LARGE PLURALITY OF PLASTIC BAGS IN COLLAPSED FORM,JOINED END TO END, SAID MACHINE COMPRISING MEANS TO TRANSPORT AXIALLY APREDETERMINED NUMBER OF SAID BAGS JOINED END TO END TO A TRANSFERSTATION POSITIONED AXIALLY DISPLACED BELOW SAID ROLL SUPPLY; MEANS TOCOUNT SAID NUMBER OF BAGS; MEANS RESPONSIVE TO A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OFBAGS COUNTED TO CAUSE A TRANSVERSE SEVERANCE BETWEEN THE LAST BAG IN